In England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, a toft village is a settlement comprising small and relatively closely packed farms (tofts) with the surrounding land owned and farmed by those who live in the village's buildings. Late Old English toft, with Old English declension (plural) toftas > tofts. Toft as a placename element is usually dated to the Viking age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

 by place-name historians.

Placenames ending in "-toft" are usually of Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 derivation, topt meaning site of a house. Examples are Langtoft, Habertoft, Huttoft

Huttoft

Huttoft is a small village, east of the market town of Alford in the East Lindsey district of the county of Lincolnshire, England.It lies along the A52 road, between Ingoldmells and Sutton-on-Sea.- Etymology :...

, Knaptoft

Knaptoft

Knaptoft is a civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of around 50. It is also a deserted village in this parish. Knaptoft just off the A5199 near Husbands Bosworth. Knaptoft House Farm nearby is bed and breakfast accommodation and a stud farm...

, Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

, Newtoft, Scraptoft

Scraptoft

Scraptoft is a village in Leicestershire, England that is effectively a suburb of Leicester. It has a population of about 1,500. It lies north of the A47 road east of Leicester, and runs directly into the built up area of Thurnby and Bushby to the south...

, Sibbertoft

Sibbertoft

Sibbertoft is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 343 people....

, Stowlangtoft

Stowlangtoft

Stowlangtoft is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England two miles south-east from Ixworth. Located around five miles north-east of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 270.-St George's:...

, Wibtoft

Wibtoft

Wibtoft is a small village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. The village was originally within the civil parish of Claybrooke Magna in Leicestershire and, according to the 2001 census, had a population of 50...

, Yelvertoft

Yelvertoft

Yelvertoft is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 821 people....

 and various places simply called Toft

Toft

Toft is a placename and surname of Norse origin. Placenames ending in "-toft" are usually derivations of the Old Norse word topt meaning site of a house. As a placename and placename particle, it occurs in Denmark, Scania , England, Shetland and Normandy...

 in the former Danelaw

Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...

. This typical Old Norse element allows to estimate the extension of Scandinavian settlements in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 such as in Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

 (-toft : Langstoft, Havetoft

Havetoft

Havetoft is a municipality in Schleswig-Flensburg district, in northern Germany....

, Koltoft, Goltoft

Goltoft

Goltoft is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany....

, Kaltoft...), Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 (-tot : Lanquetot

Lanquetot

Lanquetot is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A farming village in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Le Havre, at the junction of the D9015, D30 and D109 roads.-Heraldry:...

, Colletot

Colletot

Colletot is a commune in the Eure department in northern France.-Population:...

, Caltot, Hottot

Hottot-les-Bagues

-External links:***...

, Hotot

Hotot-en-Auge

-References:*...

...), etc.